CANFORD School's Bethan Burley capped a superb season by claiming second place at the English Schools' Athletics Association Combined Events Championship.

Representing Dorset in the senior girls’ heptathlon, the Wimborne AC member set five new personal bests to achieve a score of 5015 points and took the silver medal behind Oxfordshire’s Jade O’Dowda.

This score would have been enough to win the event in the past three years and put Burley fifth among UK under-20 heptathletes.

Following on from representing Wales under-18s in the 400m hurdles earlier this summer and taking titles at the South West Schools and Southern Inter-Counties Championship, Burley has had a great first season in the under-20 ranks.

As well as competing as an individual, Burley and her team-mates – fellow Canford pupil Hannah Sherborne and Olivia Galloway (Bournemouth AC) from Bournemouth School for Girls – represented Dorset in the team competition.

Galloway's new best score took her to fourth, missing out on bronze by just 10 points. And with Sherborne claiming 11th, the combined Dorset score set a championship-best total to take the team title.

The Dorset junior girls team consisting of Polly Yule, Louise Galloway, Abbie Lovering and Sian Meadows performed admirably to claim fourth position in the team event with Lovering the highest-placed individual in 10th.

Meanwhile, eight-year-old Sophie Barcsai featured prominently in the Poole Sports Council's awards evening.

The awards are held annually to celebrate exceptional sporting success in the Borough of Poole.

Sophie's certificate of commendation was the only one for table tennis and she was one of the two youngest athletes in the arena.

She received her individual award from the Mayor of Poole, Councillor Lindsay Wilson for exceptional performance in her sport over the past year.

Sophie won a bronze medal in the National Schools' Under-11 Individual Championship and has another three years in this age group.

She has also represented Dorset with distinction in both cadet (under-15) and junior (under-18) events and is currently in the top 15 under-13 girls in the country.